Park of the Labyrinth

The Park of the Labyrinth was created by Joan Antoni Desvalls, Marquis of Llupià, who in 1791 designed and built a neoclassical garden, following the Italian and French influences of the time. Later, in the nineteenth century, his descendants expanded and embellished the park following the new romantic taste, commissioning the architect Elies Rogent the project, which included numerous fountains, terraces, parterres and even a canal and a waterfall.

The park is known not only for his imaginative and entertaining maze, but also by its decorative statues, the palazzo and ornate temples and the high value botanical species of trees and vegetation. Exploring the Park of the Labyrinth is like going on a journey to the heart of nature, following an itinerary in five levels. The very start of the visit to the park is at Palazzo Desvalls, from where you can find the best views of the ornamental fountain. From here, nature beckons, with the Box Tree Garden, a showcase for the art of topiary, where shrubs take on myriad forms and lead us to the second level, the so-called Domestic Garden with its stunning camellia beds. However, the true highlight of the park is the Labyrinth, a maze comprising of more than 750 linear metres of pollard trees, creating a mysterious network of streets and crowned by the statue of Eros.

After the maze, we encounter the Romantic Canal, built in 1853 and populated by geese, swans and ducks. The watercourse takes visitors to the beautiful Island of Love. Across the canal, the Neoclassical Pavilion invites us to join the social receptions once held here by Spanish monarchs Charles IV, Ferdinand VII and Alfonso XIII. The next area of the park stands on a piece of naturally sloping terrain, featuring the Romantic Garden with its eye-catching Waterfall, made from rock and flowing into a stream. The neoclassical garden known as False Cemetery concludes the walk.

Among the park's botanical variety, three ancient trees are of special interest: an ilex planted in 1903, an arbutus from 1913 and a redwood sequoia from 1923. Mythology is also a leading key to the park, combining perfectly the statues of Eros, the Minotaur, Ariadne and Danae or Dionysus with the scenic beauty of the canal, the waterfall and the labyrinth.